Pages

Monday, August 24, 2015

Tommy and Tuppence ( Partners in Crime)
Guys! Guys! I am not a huge Agatha Christie fan across the board, but I love these two. Unlike the 1980s series which was totally 1920s flapper glam, this reboot is set in the 1950s and it makes it even more wonderful when Tuppence thwarts domesticity for a life of crime-solving. I love the chemistry between Tommy and Tuppence who are a settled married couple but have such a penchant for thrill-seeking it jolts something back into their obvious chemistry. I also enjoy how their little boy is always conveniently away and how they sneak into people's things in pursuit of their mysteries and get caught and have lame cover stories and no one cares. Love.

Newsies
I saw this touring production in Boston and then twice now in Toronto and Dan DeLuca( as well as having a favourite close-to-my-heart surname) is just astounding as the leader of the strike, Jack Kelly. I went with some people yesterday and told them that Newsies excels at revitalizing the old fashioned type of broadway that is reliant on singing and dancing and not on special effects and rock ballads. The kids are amazing on stage, there is a fabulous feminist lead and the voices are exceptional. The choreography incorporates every type of dance from acrobatic to ballet to tap. I am just thrilled at how much verve it has. See it if it is coming to your city ( don't worry, it is much better than the film. It works better on stage)

I also think if people have kids this is a great way to introduce them to a major point in children's justice and history but also to ignite a discussion on social justice.

Pygmalion
I could talk about the Shaw Festival's production forever and wanted to do a full blown review but realized I don't have the time this week what with edits and my real job. So, here you are going to get the overview. Settled in gorgeous Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Shaw Festival is a favourite summer stop about two hours out of Toronto. My friend Mel and I went and had a blast. Here, they have kept the dialogue the same and stayed cherished and true to the original work but transposed it to the 21st Century. All the way through, I was delightedly thinking: How Does Pymalion Work Now? But it does. Save for when Eliza complains about not being able to find a role outside of marriage as Higgin has made her fit for nothing.

Speaking of Higgins, Patrick McManus made it his own. I have seen several incarnations of Pygmalion and My Fair Lady and a lot of it is the same old, same old ( the delightfully same old because I friggin' love it). But, McManus updated the character, made him boyish and infused quite a lot of physicality. The sets were amazing. Eliza was amazing. It just worked very well. There is an entire re-invention fashion motif, there is a set-change video from the BBC talking about the new class ( which blends well with Alfie Doolittle's long -drawn-out treatises on Middle Class Morality). It proves that Shaw's humour and relevance are century agnostic.

Emma Approved
After a long week at a work conference, I vegged out Friday night and binge-watched this youtube serial. I have never seen Lizzie Bennett Diaries but I really enjoyed this. It worked well. The Knightley was adorable and it is cozy marshmallow-hot-chocolate viewing.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

If you are like: I wish I could find the Musketeers as
retold by Scott Lynch then I have this series for you.

Confession: it’s hard to make me laugh in books. You won’t usually find my laughing at the
spirited antics of some contemporary romance where the heroine has toilet paper
stuck to her shoe. I’m not into
that. I am, however, a sucker for
cerebral sarcasm and a winning, irreverent voice.

‘Goodnight Lord Tremondi,’ I said. ‘You weren’t an
especially good employer. You lied a lot and you never paid us when you
promised. But, I guess that’s all right, since we turned out to be pretty
useless bodyguards”

I WAS LAUGHING ON THE FIRST PAGE ! Falcio and his Greatcoat friends are
outcasts, outliers and completely obsolete but they need to save the day
anyways.

“My name is Falcio val Mond, First Cantor of the Great Coats
and this was only the first of a great many bad days to come!” de Castell tugs you into his web and
entangles you there.

Lest you think it is all fun and swashbuckling hijinks, it
is not. Indeed, there is a pensive and
sad undertone with a perfectly realized world developed with injustice, pain
and sorrow.

“It is an odd sort of bluish colour, and you would call it
bright at first, but then as you looked on it further, you’d find yourself
adding words like oily and runny-looking and finally sort of disturbing.”

de Castell has a way with words that is equally surprising
and winsome, cunning and smart. His
prose literally snaps up from the page and sparks you in the eye like the
moment you toss an extra log on a campfire and flits of ember flick a little
extra smoke.

There’s a great deal of screaming in this story. Best get
used to it now.

I think I was attacked once or twice, but I couldn’t afford
the delay so I killed them and moved on.

And, if you are like: I kinda want Sally Lockhart but I would
prefer a more interesting guy sidekick (maybe a gay Italian with a half-scarred
face) and more cross-dressing and opium addiction then you will love Kitty Peck.
I read The Music Hall Murders and the Child of Ill-Fortune back to back last
week. I had trouble putting them down. [note: these books are super inexpensive on kindle]

You guys all know I love Victoriana and surprising poems and
the dark, creaky shadow-drenched streets of London illuminated with surprising
prose. Kate Griffin pulled me in
immediately.

“She was dressed in a black embroidered gown that gaped wide
at the neck revealing a throat that was strung like a broken violin.”

Really vivid imagery, a perfect Cockney-vernacular which
sets brilliantly well in the first person narrative. Kitty is at times infuriating and vulnerable,
strong and sly. A different kind of
lady detective in stories that defy genre.

“Lady Ginger’s words were like something noxious coughed up
by a pampered cat. One minute it’s purring and curled up neat on your lap, next
it’s hawking out a half-digested rat head.”

“he coated my name with a greasy slick of insolence”

And as much as I love Kitty, I love Lucca! Smart, cultured Lucca who maintains pride and
vanity despite the treacherous accident that marred half of his beautiful
face. I love how a few Italian words and
phrases erupt now and then.

“I’d seen the truth of that picture, but Lucca, now , it was
like he could feel it all—every lash, every cut, every chain.”

It’s a very vivid and visceral and gritty world with dark
motivations and the basest of human depravity.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Pulled apart by past
mistakes. Driven by a passion neither could deny.

Sophia
Thorne was young and inexperienced when she married the dashing Earl of
Averford…and through dark and troubled times, their relationship nearly came to
an end. Now she’s determined to transform herself into the fiery, ardent lover
she always wanted to be, giving them a second chance at love… before they’re
lost to each other forever.

It
took nearly losing Sophia for Gabriel to realize he had allowed his love for
his great estate to distract him from his beautiful wife. But that time is
over. Despite all the obstacles standing in their way, Gabriel vows to teach
Sophia what it is to truly love…and to be loved by a husband devoted heart and
soul to her every desire.

Sherri
Browning writes historical and contemporary romance fiction,
sometimes with a paranormal twist. She is the author of critically acclaimed
classic mash-ups Jane Slayre and Grave Expectations. A graduate
of Mount Holyoke College, Sherri has lived in western Massachusetts and Greater
Detroit Michigan, but is now settled with her family in Simsbury, Connecticut.
Find her online at www.sherribrowningerwin.com.

***

Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, the third in Sherri Browning’s Thornbrook Park
series, The Great Estate, comes out this August! To celebrate her new release,
Sherri’s agreed to answer some questions for us about herself and her career as
an author.

How do you approach the research in your novels in
order to provide the lush and well-drawn settings in which you populate your
characters.

I travel. I love visiting old
estates that have been kept in their original condition. I recently went
through the Frick Museum, former residence of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919),
with author Julia London in New York City. I like to read fiction written in the
same time period I’m writing in to pick up some ideas of setting, like novels
by E.M Forster or Edith Wharton. I also use Pinterest and Tumblr to find some
pictures of location or period-specific clothes, art, and architecture.

An Excerpt:

Thornbrook Park. A warm
wave of pride filled him at the sight as Dale drove them up the winding way.
The chimneys appeared first over the crest of the hill, followed by the slate
roof, and finally the rose stone facade. How could he have stayed away so long?

Sophia wouldn’t be expecting him. He planned
to surprise her, perhaps persuade Finch not to even announce his return. He
would simply appear at the dinner hour, dressed to the nines, and act as if he
had been there the entire time. Darling, I believe the quail is cooked
perfectly, but not quite the same as when I shoot it myself… No, it wouldn’t
do. She hated it when he left her alone to go off hunting. He’d always known
it, but he couldn’t seem to give it up. Old habits. In truth, he couldn’t wait
to get his boots on, the good English ones he’d left behind, take up his rifle,
and stomp off into the woods. His woods. Alas, there would be no more hunting.
At least, not as frequently, and certainly not right away. Not until he was
certain that he wouldn’t upset Sophia further. Not until she forgave him.

Perhaps he could suggest
other activities that they could do together? His brow shot up. He knew just
what activities he had in mind, but they would have to work up to that. Slowly.
He meant to court her properly, one step at a time.

“Now, Dale, I don’t want
a fuss,” he said. “It’s good to be home but no need for a celebration. I mean
to slip in quietly.”

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Hi reader friends! I do love a good romance now and then! Grace Burrowes gives us insight into Tremaine's True Love as well as an excerpt from the book

What makes a man a gentleman?

For a romance writer, this question has to be answered in every book, because implicit in the term “hero” is something of the gentleman. Heroes need not be charming, handsome or wealthy, and they might not even be obviously heroic, at least at the start of the book, but they have to be worthy of our loyalty for the duration of an entire book.

In the True Gentlemen series, I took three men who’d wandered across my pages in previous stories—Tremaine St. Michael, Daniel Banks, and Willow Dorning—and found them each a happily ever after. Tremaine is a flinty business man, Daniel is poor and pious, Willow finds polite society an enormous trial and would far rather be with his dogs. These fellows were not obvious choices as romance heroes, but they each hadsomething that tempted me to write stories for them.

When we met Tremaine in an earlier book (Gabriel: Lord of Regrets), Tremaine was convinced that he’d found a good candidate for the position of wife. He offered marriage, listing all the practical advantages to both parties, and he congratulated himself on how much sense his proposed union would make.

The lady turned him down flat, and as a gentleman is bound to do, he graciously ceded the field. He didn’t like it, he didn’t entirely understand how or what he’d lost, but he wished the happy couple well.

Daniel’s role in David: Lord of Honor was to charge to London with sermons at the ready in an attempt to restore his sister’s honor. The very man Daniel accused of wronging that sister had already set her back on the path to respectability.

Oops. But again, being a gentleman, Daniel wishes the couple every happiness, even if doing so costs him the future he’d envisioned for himself and his loved ones. Like Tremaine, he’s a gracious and even dignified loser.

Willow’s appearance in Worth: Lord of Reckoning is brief, but he too is determined to see a sister rescued from a possibly compromising position, and again, rescue is simply not on the heroine’s agenda.

In all three cases, the true gentleman acts in the best interests of those he loves and is responsible for, regardless of the inconvenience or cost to himself. Because Tremaine, Daniel, and Willow were honorable, I liked them. I trusted them, I wanted them to have the happiness they clearly already deserved.

In the Nicholas Haddonfield’s sisters—Nita, Kirsten, and Susannah—I found ladies willing to oblige my ambitions for these men. In each case, our hero has lessons yet to learn, and in each case, his inherent honor wins the day. He might not be handsome, wealthy, or charming in the eyes of the world, but because he’s a true gentleman in the eyes of his lady, he wins her true love.

I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Wealthy businessman Tremaine St. Michael has concluded that marriage to Lady Nita Haddonfield would be a prudent merger of complimentary interests for the mutual benefit and enjoyment of both parties… or some such blather.

Tremaine rapped on Lady Nita’s door, quietly, despite a light shining from beneath it. Somebody murmured something which he took for permission to enter.

“Mr. St. Michael?”

Tremaine stepped into her ladyship’s room, closed the door behind him and locked it, which brought the total of his impossibly forward behaviors to several thousand.

“Your ladyship expected a sister, or a maid with a pail of coal?”

“I wasn’t expecting you.” Lady Nita sat near the hearth in a blue velvet dressing gown. The wool stockings on her feet were thick enough to make a drover covetous. “Are you unwell, Mr. St. Michael?”

“You are not pleased to see me.” Did she think illness the only reason somebody would seek her out?

She set aside some pamphlet, a medical treatise, no doubt. No vapid novels for Lady Nita.

“I was not expecting you, sir.”

“You were not expecting me to discuss marriage with you earlier. I wasn’t expecting the topic to come up in a casual fashion either. May I sit?”

She waved an elegant hand at the other chair flanking the hearth. Tremaine settled in, trying to gather his thoughts while the firelight turned Lady Nita’s braid into a rope of burnished gold.

“You are pretty.” Brilliant place to start. The words had come out, heavily burred, something of an ongoing revelation.

“I am tall and blond,” she retorted, twitching the folds her of her robe. “I have the usual assortment of parts. What did you come here to discuss?”

Lady Nita was right, in a sense. Her beauty was not of the ballroom variety, but rather, an illumination of her features by characteristics unseen. She fretted over new babies, cut up potatoes like any crofter’s wife, and worried for her sisters. These attributes interested Tremaine. Her madonna-with-a-secret smile, keen intellect, and longing for laughter attracted him.

Even her medical pre-occupation, in its place, had some utility as well.

“Will you marry me, my lady?”

More brilliance. Where had his wits gone? George Haddonfield had graciously pointed out that Nita needed repose and laughter, and Tremaine was offering her the hand of the most restless and un-silly man in the realm.

The lady somehow contained her incredulity, staring at her hands. “You want to discuss marriage?”

“I believe I did just open that topic. Allow me to elaborate on my thesis: Lady Bernita Haddonfield, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I think we would suit, and I can promise you would know no want in my care.”

A proper swain would have been on his damn bended knee, the lady’s hand in his. Lady Nita would probably laugh herself to tears if Tremaine attempted that nonsense. Lady Nita picked up her pamphlet, which Tremaine could now see was written in German.

“Why, Mr. St. Michael?”

“I beg your pardon?” Tremaine was about to pitch the damned pamphlet in the fire, until he recalled that Nita Haddonfield excelled at obscuring her stronger emotions.

“Why should you marry me, Tremaine St. Michael? Why should I marry you? I’ve had other offers, you’ve made other offers. You haven’t known me long enough to form an opinion of my character beyond the superficial.”

This ability to take a situation apart, into causes, effects, symptoms, and prognosis was part of the reason she was successful as a healer. Tremaine applied the same tendencies to commercial situations, so he didn’t dismiss her questions as coyness or manipulation.

She wasn’t rejecting him either. She most assuredly was not rejecting him.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish and Lady Eve's Indiscretion. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

I fell head over heels over her Lady Julia books and then, most recently, with her triad of adorable adventure romances that recalled Out of Africa, The Scarlet Pimpernel and, well, everything good thing (my book gush of City of Jasmine is here ) And now we have a new series to tempt readers of Julia and Brisbane who want something that stretches over books and allows us to settle in to a flint and tinder romance. Beginning with A Curious Beginning(releasing September)

Raybourn writes with a knowing wink and a smile and, here, she is back in Victorian London featuring the darling and bright Veronica Speedwell, a Victorian lady reminiscent of Amelia Peabody who loves to chase butterfly specimens across the exotic corners of several continents and can stay off any untoward advances with her hat pin. She keeps a small mouse named Chester tucked tightly to her as a mascot and she is brave and wonderful with an athletic form, a manner too bold for a spinster, and a life stretched with possibility when her guardian "aunt" passes away.

But there is intrigue! Mystery! Murder! Stolen identities! and even a Royal tinge of excitement and Veronica, alongside the growly and perfect Emerson-like Stoker (there's a lot of Elizabeth Peters in this series) into a whirlwind of corruption, danger and near death.

No one writes quite like Deanna Raybourn: pairing a whip-smart sense of humour, paragraphs and conversations replete with verisimilitude with sensuality and intelligence. Obviously, the sparks between our unlikely pair: Stoker the taxidermist with a high falutin' past and Veronica with the unintentional web of intrigue entrapping her corsets, bloomers and fashionable clothes, is palpable. But Raybourn leads them through several verbal waltzes, heated breaths and close quarters, without ever quite throwing them in each other's arms. This is what kept me reading at a harried pace through hilarious scenes with a travelling circus ( seems like Stoker is also an expert knife thrower, amongst other things) to the alleys of London and the docks and filmy murk of the Thames.

The connection between the two is something that will clutch at your heart and catch in your throat, but Raybourn knows how to play her cards and keep you wanting just a little more. This is chemistry and sexual tension at its finest: a marriage of minds, joining equals who keep the banter flying.

Hilarious and romantic and breathtaking at the same time.

An unconventional symphony that twists and sizzles in flying colours. I cannot WAIT for the next Veronica Speedwell.